Topman accused of plagiarism
Topman has removed an item from sale after celebrated young London graphic designer Kate Moross took to Twitter to accuse the retailer, owned by Philip Green’s Arcadia group, of stealing a design she produced and sold in 2011. Moross took to the social network to complain of the brand’s “theft of my Tribal pattern” and called on her followers to retweet the claim.
The brand responded to the claims on the social media network with a guarded message — “Topman takes very seriously the protection of its own intellectual property rights and accordingly respects the rights of others…We take great care to investigate any allegations of infringement rigorously.”
Moross’s tweet showing the side by side comparison of the designs has so far received nearly 1700 retweets.
This is not the first time Topshop has fallen prey to the power of social media. In September 2011, the brand was accused of printing a misogynistic comment on a t-shirt and was forced to remove the product as a response to the twitter backlash.
Kate Moross has previously collaborated with Cadbury’s chocolate, and Adidas; in 2008 she worked with fellow Arcadia Group megabrand Topshop on a range of t-shirts.
